Meet Annina Sommer
I was working in customer support for a software company that specializes in events. Due to Covid I had a lot of time on my hands and wanted to learn a new skill. I had been designing Flyers and simple websites for friends on a regular basis. I always thought that you can't earn a living as a creative without formal training.
When I found Bonnie on Skillshare I knew I needed to go through all her courses. Then I heard of Immersion and immediately knew that was the road I wanted to take. I didn't really have an income at the time so I scraped together what I had in my savings account and signed up. I never regretted it!
Suddenly all the drawings I was making had a purpose and I saw inspiration for patterns everywhere. I was obsessed with pattern-making from the very beginning - it is so addictive! I have to admit, that I still don't use all the Illustrator-Shortcuts. Illustrator and I weren't close friends before Immersion but now I can't live without it!
I thought I was proficient with the Adobe programs before the course but man, I had no idea - Bonnie has an amazing knowledge and is great at sharing it. I would be lying if I said it was all fantastic. Sometimes I was really overwelmed by the amount of things to do and not knowing where to start. The Flourish Membership helped to get on track and the peer group was great to stay accountable. I actually found a close friend in the group and we still chat once a week to catch up, celebrate wins and motivate each other.
My patterns have sold Spoonflower and I started with POD. In addition I am having products sewn and postcards printed to sell myself. The main thing I took away from the course apart from knowledge, was a lot of confidence. I would have never started my own business as a Webdesigner with SPD as a side hustle if it hadn't been for Bonnie and Immersion. I hope to get a few licensing deals in the near future and will continue to design fun patterns to use on various products. To anybody looking for a great possibility to boost their creativity with the idea of generating money - Immersion is definitely a great starting point. Just don't forget - you have to do the work!
